


She's Got A Ticket To Ride

by aca_avenger



Category: Pitch Perfect (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-04
Updated: 2013-04-04
Packaged: 2017-12-07 10:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aca_avenger/pseuds/aca_avenger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being the best piano player on the Eastern side of the Mississippi River sounds like it would be a dream. Unfortunately not for Beca Mitchell, being a woman in the 1930s gets her stuck in a Tin Pan Alley publishing house. Though things just might be looking up for her after the vibrant Chloe Beale comes into her life. But as they say, are some things just too good to be true?</p>
            </blockquote>





	She's Got A Ticket To Ride

Part One

You'd assume it was a seemingly normal day, the day I met Chloe Beale. Actually, it was one of the most miserable days I had experienced since I had started at Leo Feist Inc. a year ago.

The weather made me feel like I was in the middle of Chicago; it was pouring outside and the wind had destroyed my umbrella as soon as I emerged from the subway tunnel. By the time I had reached the publishing house, the rain had soaked through my jacket, dampening my typical work shirt making it bound to be wrinkled by the time it dried.

"Jesus, RJ! What in God's name happened to you?" Mr. Feist pokes his head out from his office door at the sound of the bell above the door ringing.

"Well, Mr. Feist, if you took the time to leave the office or look out a window perhaps, you'll notice that it's raining cats and dogs out there this morning." I deadpan. Mr. Feist had been a great boss since taking over when his passed; he always seemed to be more than tolerable to my sense of humor and style. I had like Mr. Feist Sr., but he always made me wear dresses; "as a lady should", he'd say. Thankfully, now I was allowed to wear pants if I damn well pleased to.

"RJ, how many times do I have to tell you? It's Leon, JR, or nothing at all, got it?" He cracks a smile as he leans against the door frame.

"Yes, Mr., uh I mean" I can't help but chuckle; old habits die hard of course. "Yes Leon."

"Now, I've got an appointment with an exec this afternoon I need to prepare for. So I'll need you to brush up on those songs I put on your desks on Friday. I'm sure we're not going to have many customers with the cats and dogs, as you put it, outside." He points out the main window with a smile that resembles more of a smirk. "So just do that and your regular stuff to keep me awake, and well make sure you look at least half presentable for this afternoon's meeting would ya?"

"You got it," I say, tossing up my rain coat. "I'll head out back and see what I can do with this mess now."

"Just do what you can RJ." Clearly I looked just as bad, if not worse, than I thought. "Don't sweat it too much." With that he went back into his office.

Well this is going be fan-fucking-tastic.

I pull on the string attached to the light fixture in the barely closet-sized room ceiling. I can't help but groan as I get a look of myself in the mirror. The light had made all the fly away hairs from the humidity visible and I could immediately tell that there was only going to be one way of 'fixing' this.

I open the medicine cabinet and haul of the small brush I stored there for the rare days like day. I brush out my hair until it's as slick as I could get before pulling out an elastic band from my pants pocket, placing it around my fingers so it stretched out. I do some quick manoeuvering of my hair and wrap the elastic tightly around the bun I had formed. It was kind of messy but it was the best it was going to get.

Now that that was out of the way I look down at my shirt, the wrinkles were fairly set in so this was not going to be an easy feat. I make sure the door was firmly shut before unbuttoning my shirt. I grab a wire hanger from under the sink. God only knows why Leon had that in here. Putting up my shirt on the shower curtain rack, I turn the hot water on in the sink; hoping I could get enough steam in here to get at least make some of the larger wrinkles less noticeable.

I leave it running until the medicine cabinet's mirror is completely steamed over and my nose has started to run. I wipe off the steam with the towel before pulling on my shirt. Inspecting myself in the mirror for what feels like the tenth time since I came in, I can't help but feel pleased the steam seems to have done the trick. Well, I didn't look like a damn beauty queen but it was sure as hell better than when I walked through the door. I tuck my shirt tails in before leaving the bathroom to go review whatever the writers and Leon had seemed suitable to be called music this week. Most likely I was going to end up playing something that was extremely sappy and unoriginal. I think I probably could have written better music if I had been deaf like Beethoven. But a job's a job if it involved music, and this was the best I could do.

 

 

I turn my attention to the main door as I hear an audible gasp beside me. Instead of finding a middle aged man in a business suit as I would expect Mr. Beale to look like, my eyes meet the face of the most beautiful girl I'd ever laid eyes on.

"I don't look that bad now, do I?" The words fall out before my sarcastic mouth could stop them. The auburn haired girl shakes her head furiously in response. "Now, I'm going to assume that you're not Mr. Beale at three o'clock?"

"No," she lets out a small laugh, "Daddy's out telling Tom when to come get us." She finishes, playing with the hem of her cardigan. She opens her mouth to continue as the bell above the door rings, signaling who I could only guess was Mr. Beale's entrance.

"Charles, it's good to see you." I hadn't noticed that Leon had come out of his office. He walks towards tall, sandy blonde haired man who had just close the door, giving him a firm handshake. "Now I'm sure you must be the lovely Chloe I have been hearing so much about at our meetings." Leon gives the girl a gentle smile as he releases her father's hand.

"Yes Leon, this is my baby girl." Mr. Beale's face shows emotion for the first time since he's arrived; a proud smile crossing his features. "Now, I'm sure we both haven't got all evening so let's get down to business so I can get out of your hair quickly. I'm sure Miss," He looks at me, clearly asking for my name.

"Mitchell. Sir," I answer quickly. I have already established he isn't a man that likes to be kept waiting.

"I'm sure Miss Mitchell would be able to keep you company while you wait for me, darling." He gives me a slightly intimidating look. Clearly, he was also the type of man who didn't take no for an answer.

"Uh yes sir."

"RJ knows just about every song out there, I'm sure she'd play you something if you asked her." Leon places a hand on my shoulder for a quick moment before ushering Mr. Beale into his office.

I look back to the girl and nearly lose my breath. It wasn't like me to be so absorbed by another person. The large smile beaming across her face was one who could give angels a run for their money.

"So RJ, huh," She asks, the grin never leaving her face.

"Yeah," I can't seem to stop myself from chuckling awkwardly. "Yeah, Mr. Feist Sr. called me it one day and it stuck with him and Leon, I mean Mr. Feist Jr." I can feel the blush beginning to creep up on my normally porcelain pale cheeks.

"Well what can I call you?" I can feel her bright blue eyes examining me.

"RJ is fine. Only my father calls me by my first name." I can't help but let out a small sigh of frustration at the mention of the wonderful Dr. Mitchell.

"You two don't get along I take it?" Her eyes soften, clearly empathetic.

I shake my head, taking a seat down on the piano bench. "No definitely not."

"You don't talk much, do you?" The lively young woman gives me a look filled with curiosity; like I was a puzzle she was just dying to solve.

"Well, no. But why would you just assume that?" I automatically raise my brow at her disregard for boundaries.

"Cause most people like to talk about themselves." She steps close to the bench, trying to make eye contact with me.

"He doesn't think that a young lady should be in the music industry. He doesn't think music it's a valid career for anyone actually. If you really must know that is."

"Well that's too bad now isn't it?" She lets out a small laugh. "I'm sure you're great at what you do, RJ."

I can't help but start picking at the keys in front of me, playing the short melody that had popped into my head on the subway this morning. "You've never even heard me play before." It comes out more as more of a mumble if anything; my eyes staying glued to that pattern of black and white.

"Daddy doesn't work with just anyone. And Mr. Feist trusts you. That being said I'm sure you're definitely one of the best in the city."

"That's another pretty big assumption there, Miss Beale."

"It's Chloe, silly." She gives me a playful slap on the arm, causing me to look at her. She was doing that thing again; the beaming. It was like she couldn't be any more amazed by something. And for some ridiculous reason, as dangerous as it was, I couldn't help but think it was me; with my slightly wrinkled shirt and hair up in a mess of a bun. Now, that wasn't something I understood no matter how many time I could go over it in my head. "RJ? Hello?" She waves her hand in front of my face shaking me out of my thoughts.

"What? Sorry." I can feel the blush creeping up on my face again. I'm fairly certain I've blushed more in the fifteen minute she's been here than I have in the rest of my life.

"I was saying that you could play me something if you wanted to confirm my assumptions." She plinks out the melody line to 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' as she continues. "Also it's not polite to stare at a young lady you know."

I nearly choke on my own saliva, causing me to cough up a storm. "I, I wasn't." I clear my throat, "I wasn't staring."

"I'm just teasing you, RJ." She places her hand on my arm; I can feel goose bumps forming and I really hope she can't feel them. "So you gonna play for me or not silly?"

She smiles and how could anyone say no to her with a face like that? "Any requests, Miss Beale?" I give her smile that ends up resembling more of a smirk; knowing I'll likely be reprimanded for not calling her Chloe.

"Well Miss Mitchell, why don't you surprise me? Something new that I'm sure Daddy will hear again later, perhaps? Practice is always nice even though I'm sure you don't need any now do you?"

I sift through this morning's songs, trying to find the one least worthy of tossing my cookies over. They were all particularly cheesy. Eventually I figured that Leon's favorite out of them would have to do. I flick through its pages, making sure I had the melody line right, before tossing it back onto the top of the upright piano.

"Don't you need that?" She gives me a look that could only be described as quizzical.

"It's all up here." I tap my temple with a slightly arrogant smirk before placing my fingers on their appropriate keys. "You sure you want to hear this? It's a bit generic."

She gives me furious head nod, much like the one she had when she first walked in. "Just play already, silly." She gives my arm a playful shove, signalling my time for avoiding was up.

Thankfully, having her eyes on me has done nothing to my sense of rhythm nor my memory like I had expected it would. The song goes off without a hitch. I even catch her humming along with the melody towards the end of it; I have to fight with myself to keep the smirk off my face.

As soon as I play the ending chord, she starts to clap animatedly. "That was really great RJ!" She swiftly joins me on the piano stool, wrapping her arms tightly around me. I can feel my heart beginning to pound hard against my ribcage as her skins grazes mine.

"Yes, Miss Mitchell. " Mr. Beale's voice causes his daughter to release me fast than I thought was humanly possible. My heart now feels as if it's in my throat. "You really are quite something, aren't you?" Despite the approvable of his words, I can practically feel the distaste in his voice.

"Thank you, sir." I manage to spit out as he looks towards Leon, who is looking at me. Leon was able to talk him through the new set in record time; I hadn't suspected they'd be finished even half as quickly.

Leon quickly turns his attention to Mr. Beale. "Definitely picked a winner with RJ here." He smiles, clearly trying to remove the tension that had oddly presented itself in the room. "That was the song I told you I thought would be the biggest hit of the bunch, Charles."

"I'll make sure they get someone good. We'll have a hit on our hands if I've got anything to say about it Leon." Mr. Beale puts his hand out for Leon to shake on their deal. "I'll be back sometime next week to give you an update on things. Try to find another hit there somewhere will you?"

Leon shakes his hand firmly, "Yes, sir. I'll get RJ to play through them for me again. We'll find something."

"Come on Chloe." He puts out his hand for her to take, like she was a young child rather than a teenage girl. "Miss Mitchell." Mr. Beale nods his head in my direction as his daughter takes his hand.

As her father begins to lead her out the door, Chloe turns around with a surprisingly shy smile across her face. "Bye RJ."

"Miss Beale." I give her a small smile before the force of her father's hand on her pulls her gently out of the publishing house.

"So Chloe seems to be a sweet girl, don't cha think?" Leon leans against the side of the piano, a soft smile on his face. He was clearly trying to test the waters for what was going on in my head.

"No Leon. Don't do that face. I know what you're thinking and we both know that nothing good will come of it. I'm not even going to go there."

"Well she seemed awfully smitten with you RJ. How do you know what will happen if you don't even try, short stack?" He chuckles before ruffling my bang, he clearly was trying to get a rise out of me today; it was a rare occasion when he pulled the short card with me, despite what you'd think.

"Because girls like her, definitely do not go out with people, especially girls, like me. You should know that, Mr. Feist." His face changes at the use of his formal title. He finally gets that I really wanted him to let the whole thing go.

"Fine, I'll let it go for now. Look through those god awful songs again for me would you? I know you'll be able to make some changes that might make them better. We can get the band to change them when you do."

That damn band. He always spoke about them as if the sun shined out of their asses or something. I'm fairly certain if I hadn't been a woman that was where I would be instead of this damn publishing house. I was better than the majority of them combined, having more talent in my pinkie finger. I had auditioned for them but apparently house bands were no place for women. They had sent Leon on after me soon after, I'm fairly certain it was only because of Uncle Sidney that they had even let me place for them in the first place. It helped having a family member in the business; he had even played for Mr. Feist Senior for a few years before moving into song writing. It shouldn't have to be that way but apparently talent is decreased exponentially in importance if you lack a Y chromosome.

"Okay." I say before grabbing the messy pile of sheets off the piano, headed for the desk.

"RJ?" Just before I'm about to sit down Leon turns around. "Don't be so hard on yourself okay, I'm sure if she's the one then it'll happen one way or another." He gives me a ridiculous wink before heading into his office, pleased with himself.

I really should have gone back to bed this morning. I wasn't going to hear the end of this.

 

 

I can't help but be extremely thankful when I manage to get to work the next day. The sun is shining but it's not warm enough to make the publishing house a furnace and I managed to make it to work with a completely wrinkleless shirt and my hair is staying fairly frizz-free. The majority of the day ran smoothly, fooling around with this week's song list; trying to make them sound better than the mediocre diddles they currently were.

My back is once again to the door as I hear its bell chime through the lobby. I try my hardiest to hold in the large smile that threatens to cross my face as I see who it is. I manage to pull something that must look like an odd mixture of a scowl and a smirk.

"Miss Beale." I give her a small nod before heading over to my desk to check the appointment book. Just as I assumed, Mr. Beale definitely did not have an appointment today. "What are you doing here, your father isn't supposed to be back until next week?" I can't hold back my instinct to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Nope, it's just me." She gives me a bright smile. Clearly she was in a better mood than she had been when her father hauled her out of here yesterday.

"RJ have you seen the," Leon shouts on his way out of his office, "Oh. Miss Beale, is your father talking to Tom before he comes in?"

"No, Mr. Feist. I just wanted to come see my favorite piano player. Sorry if I bothered your business."

"No it's okay. RJ can fix this stuff in a couple minutes if she put herself fully into it." He gives me a firm look, clearly trying to get a rise out of me in front of Chloe.

"Yes, boss." I give him a satirical salute.

"Anyways, I was going to ask where that copy of my schedule for next month is. I can't find it in my office. Do you have it out here?"

"Uh, yeah, it's in my desk. It's on the top of the stack in the second drawer on the left." I can't help but begin tapping my foot to the beat in my head. I loved it when Leon put me in awkward situations.

"Thanks RJ." As Leon leaves he gives me a quick wink as soon as Chloe isn't looking at him. It was clearly an 'I told you so'.

"So how's your day going?" Chloe gives me a wide grin.

"Fine, I guess." I answer her before taking my usual perch on the piano stool.

"I forgot how concise you are." There's a playful smirk on her face, clearly she wanted to change that.

"That's one way of putting it, I suppose." I start fumbling through a stack of sheets, trying to find something to do with my hands; otherwise I was bound to start playing.

"Well I doubt you're trying to be short with me, RJ." Chloe lets out a small laugh.

"I'm not short, just vertically challenged, thank you." I give her the best glare I can muster, which isn't very intimidating for me I must admit.

"Okay, I'll stick with vertically challenged next time then. So how's the music going?"

"They sound better than they did this morning, so that's better than nothing."

"So are you busy for the rest of the day, like are you off for the day soon?" She asks, looking at me intently.

"Well it depends on why you're asking Miss Beale." I can't help but smirk at her. Despite wanting to deny Leon's assumptions I couldn't help but put on the charm a little bit. I might not particularly enjoy being social but there was something about Chloe Beale that no one could deny.

"Is it too much for a girl to ask you out for ice cream?" She gives me a devilish grin. This girl knew exactly what she was doing. Despite her initial innocent appearance, Chloe definitely had a playful streak.

Before I get the chance to answer her Leon yells at me from his office; he's clearly frustrated about something or another. "Uhm, I think I'm about to be much busier than expected." I give her a small smile, earning myself a small blush on her cheeks.

"That's okay. I hope you don't plan on me giving up that easy. I'll see you later, RJ." She runs her hand down my forearm before heading for the door.

"Beca." I say hesitantly as she reaches for the doorknob. As she turns around and her bright blue eyes meet mine I can't help but blush. "My friends call my Beca."

"I'll see you around, Beca."

And with a quick wink, she's gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Important Author's Note: Thank you all for reading :) I'm currently at the end of my semester at university so time for writing is quite scarce at the moment. I have the basic plot line outlined so I know where this is going but I would really appreciate some feedback to see if you guys are interested as well :)
> 
> Disclaimer: While trying to be as factual as possible for the time period, names of real people and companies will be used in this story. I do not claim to represent such individuals and businesses. Other than original characters, such as Charles Beale, all characters belong to their respective owners. No profit has been made from this work.


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